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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Double Trouble

So, I was browsing the SSA database, wishing that the 2012 stats were out (three more weeks?!? GAH.), and came across the most common twin names. I know I've seen this before, but I never really looked too hard. I mean, statistically, the most common names for kids overall are still going to be pretty common for twinsies, too, right? Partially.
What I failed to consider is the common proclivity towards "matchy" names. What seems to happen quite frequently is for one twin to get a popular name, and the other to get an uncommon "match". Names that are quite uncommon overall are disproportionately more common for a twin.
Now, the data isn't perfect, of course--it only shows most common twinsets. So, a name like Kaylee, which has dozens of spelling in use, doesn't rank highly at all. Also, a name could theoretically be in use frequently, but not paired with any one name particularly often. It wouldn't show up in these rankings either.
So, with those limitations in mind, here're some interesting stats:

The most common twin pairs are: Olivia & Sophia, Madison & Mason; Daniel & David.
However, if you break the pairs up:

G/G Names

B/G Names

B/B Names

Olivia

142

Mason

70

Jayden

120

Sophia

142

Madison

60

Logan

98

Emma

120

Ethan

49

Ethan

91

Isabella

91

Emma

44

Joshua

90

Ava

74

Isabella

39

Jacob

89

Abigail

60

Olivia

39

Isaiah

85

Madison

58

Abigail

38

Andrew

69

Ella

57

Jayden/Jaden

37

Alexander

67

Makenzie/Mackenzie

88

Jada/Jayda

36

Benjamin

67

Gabriella

48

Addison

26

Nathan

66

Faith

46

Aiden

25

Matthew

65

Makayla

40

Alexander

25

Daniel

58

Emily

34

Sophia

24

David

58

Hope

33

Emily

22

Jordan

53

Hailey/Haylee

31

Chloe

21

Noah

53

Heaven

29

Jacob

20

Elijah

52

Nevaeh

29

Ava

19

Michael

52

Mia

26

Michael

19

Isaac

47

Addison

24

Andrew

18

Nicholas

46

Elizabeth

22

Owen

18

Aiden/Ayden

42

Hannah

18

Zoey

18

Evan

39

Avery

15

Zachary

17

Lucas

39

Arianna

14

Isaiah

14

Jeremiah

33

Brianna

14

Jackson

14

Anthony

31

London

14

Ella

12

Jaylen

26

Paris

14

Taylor (g)

12

Mason

26

Grace

13

Tyler

12

Justin

25

Kaylee

13

Landon

11

Kayden

25

Samantha

13

London

11

Landon

25

Anna

12

Morgan

11

William

24

Chloe

12

Oliver

11

Caleb

23

Evelyn

12

Benjamin

9

James

23

Reagan

12

John

9

John

23

Riley

12

Mackenzie

9

Josiah

21

Zoey

12

Matthew

9

Luke

21

Sarah

11

Michelle

9

Chance

20

Jayla

10

Adrian

8

Chase

20

Katherine

10

Adriana

8

Hayden

20

Kayla

10

Charlotte

8

Hunter

20

Morgan

10

Elizabeth

8

Gabriel

19

Mya

10

Henry

8

Joseph

19

Natalie

10

Isaac

8

Samuel

17

Nicole

10

Jayla

8

Christian

16

Serenity

10

Samuel

8

Christopher

16

Trinity

10

William

8

Brandon

15

Autumn

9

Blake

7

Bryan

15

Sophie

9

Brooklyn

7

Liam

15

Summer

9

Caleb

7

Jason

13

Valentina

9

Colton

7

Maddox

13

Valeria

9

Connor

7

Garrett

12

Jack

7

Gavin

12

Jordan (b)

7

Henry

12

Natalie

7

Jeremy

12

Nathan

7

Jonah

12

Robert

7

Trinity

7

Tristan

7

Zane

7

Austin

6

Most of the namesaren't too surprising. Logan, however, is ranked either #20 or #26 (depending on whether you prefer the SSA ranking or the NameNerds rankings). Why is it so much more popular for twins? Because of its matchy-ness with other names--particularly Landon, Lucas, Luke, & Liam. Hope is down in the 200s, but it's commonly paired with Faith. Jayda/Jada is fairly uncommon as well, but is frequently paired with Jayden/Jaden & Jordan.

David & Daniel are the most common twinset for boys...but they only appear paired with each other! There are a few of these sets--Heaven & Nevaeh, London & Paris, Reagan & Riley, Jayla & Kayla, Summer & Autumn, Valentina & Valeria; Blake & Brooklyn, Taylor (g) & Tyler; Chance & Chase, Hayden & Hunter, Christian & Christopher. Unsurprisingly, "matchy" names are more common for g/g sets.
(It's a bit depressing, actually.)

I also find it interesting that of all the unisex names, only Jordan shows up as only male. Jordyn is a fairly popular name, so I'm at loss as to why it doesn't appear in twin-sets often.